Desk-top drafting table

ABSTRACT

A drafting table suitable for attachment to a desk or work table wherein a support board is fixedly clamped at the rear edge of the desk top and extends vertically upward therefrom. The rearward edge of a second board which forms part of the writing surface is hinged to the upper edge of the support board and is angularly inclined forward. A third board hingedly engages the second board to form the remainder of the inclined writing surface. The entire unit is foldable upward to a thickness of only two boards at the rear of the desk top.

States Patent [191 Wallis et a1.

1 1 DESK-TOP DRAFTING TABLE [76] lnventors: Victor B. Wallis, 4784 Junupa Ave.,

Riverside, Calif. 92506; Philip J. Beaton, Sr., P.O. Box 272, Westmoreland, N.Y. 13490 [22] Filed: May 7,1973 [21] Appl. No.: 357,569

[52] US. Cl ..108/6, 312/231, 312/196 [51] int. Cl. A471 5/12 [58] Field of Search 108/3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 136,090 2/1873 Oliver ..108/7X 414.065 10/1889 1,907,780 5/1933 2,223,405 12/1940 2.700.587 1/1955 2,710,051 l/1955 Greenberg 108/6 3,506,324 4/1970 Fristedt 312/23 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant ExaminerVictor Sakran Attorney, Agent, or FirmHarry A. Herbert, Jr.; Arsen Tashjian [57] ABSTRACT A drafting table suitable for attachment to a desk or work table wherein a support board is fixedly clamped at the rear edge of the desk top and extends vertically upward therefrom The rearward edge of a second board which forms part of the writing surface is hinged to the upper edge of the support board and is angularly inclined forward. A third board hingedly en gages the second board to form the remainder of the inclined writing surface. The entire unit is foldable upward to a thickness of only two boards at the rear of the desk top.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DESK-TOP DRAFTING TABLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a foldable drafting table suitable for attachment to a standard office desk and more particularly, the invention is concerned with providing a desk-top drafting table having a vertically oriented support board attached to the rear edge of table top with means hingedly connected to the top edge of the support board and angularly oriented forward and downward to provide an inclined surface for drafting.

Heretofore, the common practice in engineering departments was to provide each employee with a desk for his regular writing and study work and a drafting table for the preparation of drawings and/or layouts. This arrangement necessitates a considerable amount of extra floor space for each employee which either adds to the cost of operation or else makes the working area over crowded and less productive.

An ideal condition would be an arrangement whereby each engineer or employee is provided with his own desk or work table while at the same time having drafting facilities suitable for the preparation of sketches and drawings. Preferably, this would be ac complished without adding to floor space requirements. Also, a desirable feature of the work table would be the provision of an area for holding reference materials while preparing written data therefrom. Thus, it would be especially advantageous to provide a multipurpose desk or table having an inclined drawing surface which is stowable so that the entire desk surface is usable in the conventional manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with providing a multi-purpose table or desk wherein a foldable drafting surface can be attached to a conventional desk to provide a unit which is useful as both a desk and a drafting table. It can be constructed in any size to fit a specific individual need and can utilize either a drafting machine, a horizontal bar or tee square.

The apparatus according to the invention includes a first board which is vertically oriented and fixedly clamped to the rear edge of the table top. This first board supports a second board which is hingedly attached to the upper edge thereof. The second board is angularly oriented forward and downward. A third board is hingedly attached to the forward edge of the second board and extends forward therefrom at the same angle. The front edge of the third board makes contact near the front edge of the table top. The surface thus formed is inclined forward and is ideal for use in making sketches or drawings. When folded back out i of the way, the device is only the thickness of two boards and requires very little storage space. A weighted pencil holder is pivotably attached to the side edge of the third board to provide a convenient place to store writing instruments while not being used.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus suitable for attachment to a conventional desk or table to thereby produce a multi-purpose unit whereby the entire surface of the desk can be used and also a drafting table can be made available when desired. Both functions can be accomplished in the single unit space requirement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multipurpose work table wherein a foldable work surface is attached to the rear edge of the table top. The work surface is arranged to be inclined forward so that a comfortable drafting surface is thus formed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a desk top drafting table having three boards hingedly attached to one another such that the first board is vertically oriented at the rear of the desk top while the second and third boards form the forwardly inclined drafting surface.

These and other objects features and advantages will become more apparent after considering the following description taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of the desk top drafting table in the unfolded or open position showing the inclined drafting surface; and

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus according to the invention in the closed or stowed position showing that substantially all of the table or desk top is free and clear for conventional desk work.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings. there is shown a desk top drafting table according to the invention including the desk 13 having the top 15 and the legs 17. The foldable drafting table which is attached to the rear edge of the desk top 15 is comprised of three boards. The first board 19 is vertically oriented and fixedly attached to the desk 13 by means of the clamp 21 which holds the bottom edge of the board 19 against the rear edge of the desk top 15.

The rearward edge of a second board 23 is hingedly connected to the top edge of the first board 19 by means of the hinge 25 which is preferably of the piano hinge type. In the unfolded or open position as shown in FIG. 1, the board 23 is angularly oriented forward and downward toward the front edge of the desk top 15. The rearward edge of a,third board 27 is hingedly connected to the forward edge of the second board 23 by means ofthe hinge 29. The forward edge ofthe third board 27 rests on the forward edge of the desk top 15 and is oriented at the same angle as the second board 23 to thereby form the inclined drafting surface.

A groove 31 is provided near the forwardmost edge of the third board 27 for the purpose of holding pencils. pens and other writing instruments. A pencil holder 33 is pivotally attached to the side edge of the third board 27 near the hinge 29. A weight 35 positioned in the bot tom of the pencil holder 33 operates to hold it in the upright condition regardless of whether the table is in the folded or unfolded position.

The hereinbefore described invention is particularly useful for engineers to use at a desk. If desired, a desk could be build strictly for the desk top drafting table wherein the drafting unit would slide down the back of the desk and a cover would fold down to hide it. The one illustrated herein is for use with desks already in most engineering offices.

The desk top drafting table may be constructed with lighter weight materials utilizing small brackets .fastened to the drawing board section for weight support on the desk top. Also, double hinged friction arms could be utilized between the support sections for stabilization and to hold the working section at various positions for reference work. In some cases even aluminum dural sheets might be desirable material instead of plywood. In all cases the combined vertical dimension of the two support sections 19 and 23 should be about /8 inch greater than the third board 27 so that the table can be easily placed in the stowed position.

Although the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing specification in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof, the invention is not limited to this embodiment or to the preferred configuration mentioned. lt will be apparent to those skilled in the art that our invention could have extensive use in other operations where it is desirable to have multi purpose work tables especially where the floor space is limited and it is advantageous to provide employees with comfortable and efficient working conditions Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A foldable desk top drafting table for attachment to a conventional desk to produce a multi-purpose work unit, said drafting table comprising a stationary first board having its lower edge fixedly attached to the rear edge of the top of the conventional desk, said first board being vertically oriented upward from the desk top surface, a second board having its rearward edge pivotally attached to the upper edge of said first board, said second board being angularly oriented forward and downward, and a third board having its rearward edge pivotally attached to the forward edge of said second board, said third board extending forward and downward at the same angle as said second board and the forward edge of said third board making contact with the front edge of the desk top thereby providing an inclined surface suitable for drafting and foldable back out of the way when not in use to allow access to substantially all of the desk top surface.

2. The foldable desk top drafting table defined in claim 1 wherein a pencil holder is pivotally attached to the side edge of said third board near its rearward edge, said pencil holder being weighted so as to remain in the upright position during folding and unfolding of the drafting table. 

1. A foldable desk top drafting table for attachment to a conventional desk to produce a multi-purpose work unit, said drafting table comprising a stationary first board having its lower edge fixedly attached to the rear edge of the top of the conventional desk, said first board being vertically oriented upward from the desk top surface, a second board having its rearward edge pivotally attached to the upper edge of said first board, said second board being angularly oriented forward and downward, and a third board having its rearward edge pivotally attached to the forward edge of said second board, said third board extending forward and downward at the same angle as said second board and the forward edge of said third board making contact with the front edge of the desk top thereby providing an inclined surface suitable for drafting and foldable back out of the way when not in use to allow access to substantially all of the desk top surface.
 2. The foldable desk top drafting table defined in claim 1 wherein a pencil holder is pivotally attached to the side edge of said third board near its rearward edge, said pencil holder being weighted so as to remain in the upright position during folding and unfolding of the drafting table. 